Sodus Bay Lighthouse Museum

Image from the Sodus Bay Lighthouse Museum site

Yesterday, my husband surprised me with a trip to the Sodus Bay Lighthouse Museum, which is located in Sodus Bay, on Lake Ontario. The lighthouse was originally built in 1824, but had to be rebuilt in 1871.  It became a museum in 1984.

The museum showed this history of the lighthouse, talked about Sodus Bay in the War of 1812 (every building except one was burnt down by the British), and showed beach fashion over the past 150 years.  Included with admission is a guided tour and this was one of the best tour guides I have ever had.  After the tour we walked to the top of the lighthouse which gives a great view of Sodus Bay.  In the gift shop, I purchased a Lighthouse Passport and got my first stamp.  I'm looking forward to visiting other lighthouses in the future.

After out tour ended, we wandered around the grounds a bit and looked at Lake Ontario.  Unfortunately, it started to rain, so we were not able to explore as much as we had wanted.  We then drove around the town a bit and headed home, stopping at a farm stand along the way.

If you are in the area, I definitely recommend checking out the museum.

Tombstone Tuesday: My Favorite Cemetery Photograph

This month's Graveyard Rabbits Carnival asks:

“What is your favorite cemetery photograph.  One where you are the photographer. Show us the photo!”

My favorite cemetery photograph I have taken is not of a tombstone, but these stairs in the The Old Loyalist Burial Grounds in Saint John, New Brunswick.  With how the sunlight hits the stairs and is in the background, it makes it look like you could walk right into heaven.  For a few more photos from this cemetery, check out this post.

Legacy Cruise: Day 5, Saint John, New Brunswick

On the 5th day, we entered Canada, specifically Saint John, New Brunswick.  I had been very excited for this stop, as I had always wanted to see the Bay of Fundy.  This was also the only stop where we paid for an excursion put together by Royal Caribbean.   We took a 7 hour bus tour that went all over Saint John and the surrounding area.  As such, this is going to be a multi-day post:-)

Upon exiting the ship we were greeted with a rose for each woman and a pin for each man, as well as the normal maps and brochures.  We were sent right to our tour bus, which was nice considering the rain and darkness (it was earrrrrly).

[caption id="attachment_1181" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Such a nice welcome!"][/caption]

Our first stop was the Bay of Fundy!  We spent a lot of the tour as various points along the Bay and it was amazing to see the change.  The Bay has the highest tides in the world.  Twice a day, the tide rises so high that, at the Reversing Falls, it pushes the Saint John's River to flow backwards.  (If you think that is as cool as I do, vote for them as one of the New 7 Natural Wonders of the World).

[caption id="attachment_1182" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Heading down to the Bay"][/caption]

When we first got to the Bay, it was very calm, with hardly any movement.  Even in the short time we spent there (15 minutes) it was amazing to see the tide slowly increasing in movement.

[caption id="attachment_1185" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="In front of the Bay of Fundy"][/caption]

We left the Bay to head to the market, which I will discuss tomorrow:-)

Miss the other posts on the Legacy Genealogy Cruise: 29 Sept-8 Oct 2011?  Find them here.

Legacy Cruise: Day 4, Bar Harbor, Maine

Day 4 was further up the Maine coast, in Bar Harbor.  I was here on vacation about 10 years ago, so it was nice to go back.  Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great, so we didn't get to see much of Acadia Park, but it was still a fun day:-)

[caption id="attachment_1176" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Many ships to shore"][/caption]

Our ship was too large to dock at shore, so we had to board whale watching boats and take that into port.  I was nervous when I first heard this, as when I went to visit Helgoland in Germany we had the same thing.  There, they literally threw you from the big boat to a small metal speedboat.  It was much easier this time around:-)

[caption id="attachment_1177" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Acadia Park"][/caption]

We took a trolley tour around town, which included a stop at Jordan Pond.  Next time we go, we want to stop here for lunch.

[caption id="attachment_1178" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Fresh oysters"][/caption]

After the trolley tour, we wandered through the stores near the dock and then had fresh seafood for lunch.  Then it was back to the ship to sail up to Canada.

Miss the other posts on the Legacy Genealogy Cruise: 29 Sept-8 Oct 2011?  Find them here.

Legacy Genealogy Cruise: Day 3, Portland, Maine

[caption id="attachment_1168" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Carriage House at Victoria Mansion"][/caption]

Day 3 of the cruise was our first in port.  We spent the day in Portland, Maine, which is a wonderful city.  We arrived early in Portland, so we spent some time at a coffee shop near the port, relaxing and getting caffeinated for the day ahead.  Around 9:30, we headed to Victoria Mansion.  Built between 1858 and 1860, the mansion's contents are about 90% original to the first owners.  They have turned the carriage house into a gift shop, which I thought was a great use of space.  We were able to take a tour (included in the price of admission) with a very knowledgeable docent.  The taking of photographs is not allowed in the house, so I recommend checking out their website.

After our tour ended, we spent time wandering around Portland.  Eventually making our way to the pier.

[caption id="attachment_1169" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Berlin Wall. I have now gotten my photo taken with pieces of the Berlin wall in 3 countries on 3 continents (South Africa, Germany and USA)."][/caption]

We decided the best way to see the area of Portland was by trolley, so we took a short tour of the area.

[caption id="attachment_1170" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Customs House"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1171" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The quintessential Maine coastline"][/caption]

We followed the tour with a late lunch at Bull Feeney's Irish Pub and then headed back to the ship for a relaxing night as we sailed further up the Maine coast to Bar Harbor.

[caption id="attachment_1172" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Made in Maine: Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale and Capt'n Eli's Blueberry Pop"][/caption]

Miss the other posts on the Legacy Genealogy Cruise: 29 Sept-8 Oct 2011?  Find them here.

Legacy Genealogy Cruise: Days 1 & 2 (Morning)

Day 1 of our cruise was spent driving to New Jersey, checking in and having a quick safety drill.  We followed this by dinner and an early bed time after a long day.

Day 2 was a full day at sea.  For me, this meant a full day of genealogy classes.  The first class, given by Geoff Rasmussen of Legacy,  was on timelines.  A key item in any genealogists toolbox, timelines give hints of how to further research your ancestor in a way just looking at a family group or pedigree chart cannot.  Looking at a chronology report can show you possible problems, such as if an ancestor had a baby at 11 (unlikely) or which piece of conflicting information looks to fit in better than another.

Looking at this piece of the chronology report for my great-great grandfather, I can see that I am missing the birth place for two of his daughters and one son.  I can assume that they were born in Buffalo looking at when the other events in his life occurred.  This gives me a starting place for research into their birth records.

 

 Timelines can also be interesting when you insert historical data around your ancestors life.  What happened when great-great grandpa was 7?  Using Our Timelines, a site Geoff recommended, I found out that the telephone was invented, the Battle of Little Big Horn was fought and Colorado entered as the 31st state in the Union all during the American Centenial year of 1876, which also happened to be when my great-great grandfather Jacob Gress was 7.

The timelines lecture was followed by one titled "Sources Made Simple, Standard & Powerful", also by Geoff.  He discussed why sourcing is important and how to write a good citation.  The easiest way to create proper citations in Legacy is by using the SourceWriter.  SourceWriter offers templates using Elizabeth Shown Mills' Evidence Explained.

What most excited me about this class was learning about the source clipboard.  In the past, I have gotten extremely frustrated entering the same detail information for a family of 12 in a census record.  Using the source clipboard, I can enter the information once and then easily apply it to every person in the record.  I am glad I learned about this prior to entering in all of the census records of my father's family, as they all had a lot of children, and this would have been very time consuming!

In the afternoon, we learned about "managing your genealogy data" and "building a research toolbox" with Thomas MacEntee, then had our first formal night.  I will post on these tomorrow!

 

 

Legacy Genealogy Cruise: The Basics

We began our cruise aboard the Explorer of the Seas on Thursday, September 29th.  Lasting 9 nights and 10 nights, this cruise is through Legacy, so in between ports, genealogy classes are offered.  The ship is HUGE!  15 decks, a rock climbing wall, lots of restaurants and bars, a casino, a movie screening room, and a gym are all on board, among other things.

There are 3 days of genealogy classes and stops in Portland and Bar Harbor, Maine, Saint John, New Brunswick, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Boston, Massachusetts.  I will post on each of these over the next week or two (depending on how many posts per day I get up and how much I separate the activities).  I will also have a giveaway mid-way through for everyone following along!